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THE EARLIEST COINS OF 
NORWAY 


By H. ALEXANDER PARSONS 


THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY 
BROADWAY AT I56TH STREET 
NEW YORK 
1926 





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OF NORWAY 


BY 


H. ALEXANDER PARSONS 


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THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY 
BROADWAY AT I5OTH STREET 
NEW YORK 
1926 


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hMorkeav AY. COINS 





THE EARLIEST COINS. OF NOR- 
WAY: SOME RE-ATTRIBUTIONS 
AND ADDITIONS. 

By 
H. ALEXANDER PARSONS. 


The issue last year of a medal* com- 
memorating the arrival of the first ship- 
load of Norse immigrants to America 
serves, by its design, to remind us of that 
earlier Norse colonization of the New 
World of nearly a thousand years ago. 
The rediscovery of America by Columbus 
in 1492 A. D. has, indeed, greatly ob- 
scured this earlier discovery by the 
Norsemen in the 1oth century, generally 
considered to be about the year 986. This 
date is, however, associated only with the 
cruise of Biarne Heriulfson, who, how- 
ever, although sighting the new country 


* For an illustration of this medal see frontis- 
piece. 





oak CoON-O-LES 








2 : THE’ EARL BS 






























through being blown out of his course, 
did not land on it. The first to do this 
was Leif the Lucky, the son of Eric 
the Red of Greenland, about the year 
1000. The earliest written record of this 
epoch-making but little-known event is 
in the Icelandic Codex Flateyensis, which 
was written between the years 1387 and 
1395. That the later medieval navigators 
of the South of Europe were aware of 
the maritime discoveries of the Norsemen 
seems certain from the visit made by 
Columbus to Iceland, in 1477, to glean 
such knowledge as he thought might be 
useful for his purpose of finding a pas- 
sage to the East Indies by way of the 
Western seas. The written record above 
referred to was simply the commitment 
to writing of the oral tradition, Even 
if Columbus did not read, or have trans- 
lated to him, the record of the event 
in question, there were still, no doubt, 
many people in Iceland, at the time of 
his visit there, who would know the 
details, and recite the adventures of 
the Norsemen in America, or, as it was 


NUMISMATICWN GOT. 








OF NORWAY 3 



























called by them, among other names, Vin- 
land, from the grapes they found in pro- 
fusion there. From this name of Vinland 
it may be assumed that the Norse navi- 
gators reached quite a southerly latitude, 
and antiquarians are generally agreed that 
they landed in the modern United States. 

There is thus a connection between the 
Commonwealth of the United States and 
the Kingdom of Norway which is of 
great antiquity and interest. Although 
geographers and historians are mainly 
concerned with that inquiry, the above 
remarks form a fitting introduction to the 
subject of this treatise, for the time of 
the early Norse colonization of America 
is the very period of the introduction of 
an inscribed currency in the parent coun- 
try of Norway, and the connection of the 
latter with the dominant Anglo-Saxon 
race in the States, rests in the fact that 
the earliest Norwegian inscribed cur- 
rencies were modelled solely on Anglo- 
Saxon types of coins. It is of these 
initial currencies of Norway that the 
present article treats. 


EVN De MONOGRAPHS 

















z | tHE EARLIES Pee Oe 


The question of the first of the Rulers 
to issue an inscribed currency for Nor- 
way has long been the subject of differ- 
ence. Mr. C. A. Holmboe, writing in 
1846, attributed coins to Jarl Hakon the 
Bad, who was slain in 995 A. D. (see Das 
dilteste Munzwesen Norwegens bis gegen 
Ende des 14 Jahrhunderts), but Mr. C. I. 
Schive in Norges Mynter 1 Muiddelal- 
deren, 1865, transferred the coins to 
Hakon Ericson, Jarl in 1015. Schive 
therefore commenced his series with 
King Olaf Trygveson, 995 to 1000, but 
Mr. H. E. Hildebrand in an article en- 
titled Nordens dldsta mynt 1887, was 
inclined to consider that the coins hitherto 
attributed to Olaf Trygveson belonged to 
Olaf the Stout, afterwards called the 
Saint, 1016 to 1028 A. D. For the settle- 
ment of this question of the earliest 
Norwegian coinage, regard must be given 
to the approximate time of issue of the 
prototype Anglo-Saxon issue, and the his- 
torical probabilities of the case. 

No one is in doubt as to the type of the 


first inscribed coinage of Norway. It is 


NUMISMATIC NO 





























OF NORWAY 





an imitation of the Crux Issue of 
Aéthelred II of England, as illustrated by 
figure I from a coin in the writer’s col- 
lection. The name “crux” is taken from 
the letters of that word on the angles of 
the cross on the reverse. 





rice. Penny ot the Crux Type of 
ZEthelred II of England. 
The legends read as follows: 


Obv: F AAEDELRED REX ANGLOX 


fem Ss lLIGNBIY M~O LINCO 
(Lincoln). 


In my monograph on the “Coin Types 
of A*thelred II”, published in the Numis- 
matic Chronicle of 1910, I have shown 
that this type was probably issued in 990 
A.D. Communication between Norway 
and the North of England was constant 


Peon OGRAPHS 


























6 


THE EARLIE Sti 3322 3 











at this time, for extensive colonies of 
Norsemen had been founded in the North 
of England, as well as in the West of 
Scotland and in Ireland, and the Crux 
type of A*thelred II would have been well 
known in Norway for some years before 
the death of Hakon the Bad. On the other 
hand, it was displaced by several types 
of Anglo-Saxon coins, which were copied 
in Scandinavia, by the time Jarl Hakon 
Ericson held a nominal authority over 
Norway, in the absence of his father, 
Eric Hakonson, for a very brief period 
in 1015, and any coins of his would have 
followed, in design, these later Anglo- 
Saxon types. Chronologically, and on 
type, there are, therefore, far stronger 
reasons for considering that Crux type 
coins bearing the name of Hakon were 
struck by Hakon the Bad, as suggested 
by Holmboe, than by Hakon Ericson. 
The historical incidents of the time are 
still more in favor of such an attribution. 
Hakon the Bad, with the aid of Harold II 
of Denmark (925-986), had won full sov- 
ereignty over the Throndelaw and regions 


NUMISMATIC NOrre 














OPN OR W AY 










































to the North, whilst the Southern shores 
of Norway, from the Naze eastwards, 
were created into an earldom and granted 
to him as a vassal of the King of Den- 
mark. Called upon by the latter to fulfil 
his engagements, Hakon came to the as- 
sistance of his overlord in the war with 
the Saxons of the German Empire. But 
the terms of the peace made soon after 
apparently included a promise by Harold 
of Denmark, to introduce the Christian 
faith among the Norwegians, and Earl 
Hakon was accordingly forced by King 
Harold to receive baptism. No sooner, 
however, had the former left Denmark 
than he repudiated both the new faith and 
his overlord, and ruled as an entirely 
independent sovereign in Norway. His 
position as such was assured by the deci- 
sive battle of Hjorunga Bay, fought 
about 986 A. D., and Sweyn Forkbeard, 
who had succeeded his father Harold, 
was induced to turn Danish energies 
westward toward England for a time, re- 
sulting in the great raids on that country 


in QQI and 994. 








POD MONOGRAPHS 

















8 


THE EARLTES To 


Holding, therefore, sovereign power 
over the whole of Norway as Hakon did 
in the last nine or ten years of his rule, 
it would be anomalous if he had not in- 
stituted a metallic system of exchange in 
his country when the other rulers of the 
Scandinavian North, including that of the 
Norse Kingdom of Dublin, took that step. 
A critical examination of these early 
coins of the North of Europe shows that 
the sovereigns of the various countries 
introduced, in the last decade of the tenth 
century, monetary systems all based on 
the Crux type of A*thelred II of Eng- 
land. This was the type of coins in which 
the first great tribute payment of 991 
A. D. was given to the invading vikings, 
and it would seem that, on the plunder 
being taken to the home countries, the 
idea of introducing native coinages was 
engendered. Thus it came about that 
Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, 
986-1014, and Sihtric Silkbeard, King of 
Dublin, 989-1029, both started coinages 
based on this type, and the more distant 
Olaf Skotkonung, King of Sweden, 995- 


NUMISMATIC@™NO TE. 






OF WN.O RW A Y 




























1022, followed after. There is reason to 
believe that other smaller chiefs did the 
same, e. g., the King of Man. That Hakon 
of Norway would not have done likewise 
is improbable, for as previously pointed 
out, the Norwegians were more closely 
associated with the British Islands than 
either Denmark or Sweden, and a cen- 
tury before they gave Kings, who struck 
coins, to Northumbria in Northern Brit- 
ain. It might, indeed, very well be that 
Hakon was the first of the Scandinavian 
chiefs to issue an inscribed coinage, or at 
least to share that distinction with the 
Norse King of Dublin. Trading visits 
of the Norwegians to the ports of Ire- 
land, via the Orkneys and Hebrides, were 
constant at this time. 

On the other hand, the case for the 
attribution of the coins under discussion 
to Hakon Ericson, as suggested by Schive 
and supported by Hildebrand, is as weak 
on historical grounds as it is on the 
grounds of type and chronology. Hakon 
Ericson was too young at the time of 
his father’s departure to England in rors 


















ANDSMONOGRAPHS 





So | rae EARLIEST Of 


to be made a sovereign earl of Norway. 
With his uncle, Sweyn, he was left as a 
sort of co-ruler; and, in any case, it is 
unlikely that he would have struck coins 
in his father’s lifetime. As a matter of 
fact, his rule was shortlived, for, in the 
same year, Olaf the Stout invaded Nor- 
way and had conquered the country by 
the following year, 1016. In the mean- 
time, the young Hakon Ericson had been 
captured, made to relinquish his claim to 
the sovereignty, and exiled. At a sub- 
sequent period, in 1028, Hakon was in- 
vested with the earldom of Norway by 
Canute, after the latter’s conquest of the 
country, but he was then purely a vassal 
of Denmark with no independent rights. 
His second period of rule in Norway 
was again a very short one, for, soon 
after, he was recalled to England. The 
third decade of the eleventh century was 
also much too late for imitations of 
fEthelred’s Crux type coins to be struck 
in Norway. It will, therefore, be seen 
that there is practically nothing in the 
history of Hakon Ericson which would 


NUMISMATIC NGae 





Orie ak WA LY I 


justify the allocation of an independent 
coinage in his name of any type. 

The coinage now reattributed to Hakon 
the Bad is illustrated by figure 2 here- 
under. It is from a specimen in the col- 
lection of the University of Oslo, by 
kind permission of the Director there. 











Fig. 2. Penny of Hakon the Bad of 
Norway. 
The legends read as follows: 

















Ob rw a Cie Ci = runic u) NE : 
IGNVNDEI: 
Rev: F REFEREN* M°OT‘’A’® ON (iast 
two letters transposed) = Referen the 
moneyer of Norway. 











A second example, struck, however, on 
a square flan, that is, untrimmed, is noted 
by Schive. The use, on both varieties, 











De wtONOGRAPHS 





12 THE EARLIER So 


of the runic M1 = u indicates early issue. 
The name of the moneyer is a corruption 
or variation of the well known northern 
name of Refen; and that the die-sinker 
was new to his work is evident, not merely 
from the slight departures from the 
proper legend on the reverse of the coins, 
but also from the somewhat doubtful 
words, ILGNVNDEI, at the end of the 
obverse inscription. These have been 
variously interpreted to mean “in Noment 
Dei” and “Igimundi filius’. The former 
is unlikely on the coinage of a pagan 
King. The Swedish numismatist, who 
adhered to the latter interpretation, con- 
sidered that the coins belonged to Hakon, 
or Haquin, the Red, King of Sweden, 
1067-1079. But, apart from the improb- 
ability of the reading, this attribution is 
altogether too late for the early Anglo- 
Saxon type copied, which was, it must 
be remembered, issued in England nearly 
100 years before Haquin’s time. And it is 
very doubtful whether the Swedish kings 
_|who immediately succeeded Anund Jacob, 
1022-1050, struck inscribed coins at all. 


NUMISMATIC NOTES 







































Oia OR WAY 





Modern numismatists more than doubt 
this. Had Anglo-Saxon models been fol- 
lowed by the Swedish Hakon they would 
have been those of Edward the Con- 
fessor, 1042-1065. 

In my view, the letter I, which at this 
time stood for either I or J, is more 
likely to indicate the title Jarl, the 
northern equivalent to Earl, thus follow- 
ing the almost universal rule of all coins 
of sovereign States which give the title 
or titles after the sovereign’s name. 

The word GNVNDEI, I would tenta- 
tively suggest is a corrupted form of 
DRVNDEL . (last letter unfinished) 
for DRVNDELAW, the modern Thrond- 
heim. The letter D is, of course, the 
runic Th. ‘The full reading of the in- 
scription would, therefore, be extended to 
Hakon, Jarl (in) Throndelaw. The 
weight of the coins is of the high stand- 
ard also adopted later by Olaf Skotko- 
nuns ot “Sweden, 1. e., about 32 or 33 
grains troy; and this is to be expected if 
issued in a district contiguous to what 
was then the Swedish Kingdom. 


13 





Poooe MONOGRAPHS 


















THE EARLIES TG] 





As noticed above, the important district 
of the Throndelaw was the part of Nor- 
way left under the sovereign authority of 
Hakon the Bad, even before he made good 
his claim to the whole of the Kingdom,| _ 
and it was in this district that Norway’s 
former capitol, Nidaros, was founded. 

In 995 A. D. Hakon was dispossessed 
of his Kingdom by Olaf Trygveson and, 
as before mentioned, the early writers 
on Norwegian coins attributed a currency 
to this King, although Mr. H. E. Hilde- 
brand, writing in 1887, in the work above 
mentioned, was inclined to transfer the 
coins so attributed to Olaf the Stout, 
1016-1028. I think, however, that the 
original attribution is the more sound, 
again on the grounds of the type of the 
coins in question and of the historical 
facts of the case. 

As regards the type of the coins, my 
remarks on the same point in relation to 
the issue of Hakon the Bad, apply also 
in this case. This type, which is the 
same Crux design as that of the coins 
of Hakon, is much too early for Olaf 










NUMISMATIC® NG 











| | a; 
OF NORWAY 





the Stout, whose undoubted coins are imi- 
tations of later Anglo-Saxon issues. (See 
figures 5, 6 and 7.) 

The historical probabilities of an issue 
of money by Olaf Trygveson based on 
the Crux type of England are very great. 
Olaf first appeared on the pages of 
Anglo-Saxon history in 991 A. D. when, 
in continuation of a long viking cruise 
commenced in the previous year, he sailed 
to England from Flanders and became 
one of the leaders of the viking host 
which, in that year, attacked Ipswich and 
defeated and slew Brihtnoth, the eal- 
dorman of Essex, at Maldon. Their fur- 
ther progress was stopped by the first 
ereat tribute payment in 991 A. D. In 
992, the vikings met with a reverse in 
the South of England, and, in the sources, 
we then read of them storming Bam- 
borough and ravaging Northumbria. At 
this point, Olaf Trygveson appears to 
have separated from the main body of 
the host and to have continued his course 
round Britain, for, in the Saga of Olaf 
Trygveson (one of the historical Sagas), 











AND MONOGRAPHS 


















































THE EARLUES [ae ee 





it is stated that, after the plunder of 
Northumberland, Olaf went round Scot- 
land by the Hebrides, where he fought 
several battles, then southwards to Man, 
“where he also fought’, then to Ulster, 
continuing round “Bretland’”, i. e., the 
land of the Britons, or Wales, which 
was laid waste. From thence the cruise 
was continued southwards to “Valland”, 
i. e, the west coast of France, and, 
finally, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle, under annal 994, Olaf and 
Sweyn (of Denmark) came to London 
with 94 ships. The city was besieged by 
them, but resisted the attack, whereupon 
the vikings ravaged the country far and 
wide until again bought off with a money 
payment. Olaf’s cruise came to an end 
in 994 A. D.; and in the following year 
he sailed to Norway and made himself 
King there by his conquest of Hakon 
the Bad. He was, of course, not without 
legitimate claim to the Kingship of Nor- 
way, for he was the great grandson of 
Harold Fairhair, the first King of all 
Norway. 








NUMISMATIiG] )} oo 






































Pre OR W AY | 17 





In the last year of his presence in Eng- 
land Olaf had become a Christian, and 
at Andover, in Hampshire, where his 
admission to the Church was celebrated, 
(he promised never to come again to Eng- 
land “with unpeace”’, and he kept his 
word. 

There is no question that Olaf, as an 
important leader of the Viking host, had 
a large share of the money tributes paid 
to the Northmen in the years 991 and 994. 
During these years the Crux type of 
7Ethelred II was in circulation, and, on 
his return to Scandinavia, Olaf must have 
had considerable quantities of these coins 
in his treasure chest. In addition, the 
type was already known in Norway. 

So far as I am aware, no coin of Olaf 
Trygveson is now extant—the one illus- 
trated as No. 5, Plate 1, in Schive, in 
the work before cited, having been lost. 
The inscriptions on it are shown in that 
work as follows: 


Obv: FONLAF REX NOR: 
Rev: FGODPINE M7 O NO: 





AND MONOGRAPHS 





18 THE EARLIES 3. 


It cannot be doubted that the abbre- 
viated word, NO, on the reverse, after 
the usual MO, for monetarius, as well 
as the word NOR on the obverse, after 
the title REX, is intended for Nor- 
manorum = Norway. The Norwegians 
of that period had not gathered, to any 
extent, into townships in the civic sense 
and, indeed, it was Olaf Trygveson 
who founded Norway’s former capital, 
Nidaros, now Throndheim. Even if the 
coins of Olaf were struck at Nidaros 
after its foundation, the omission of the 
town name on the coins simply follows a 
usual practice, as exemplified on the 
earlier pennies of Anglo-Saxon Britain. 
When those really concerned knew where 
the coins were struck, or if there was only 
one minting centre, there was no neces- 
sity to place the name of the mint town 
on the coins. 

The moneyer’s name, Godwine, on the 
reverse, is decidedly Anglo-Saxon, and it 
thus affords striking corroboration of the 
records, which state that Olaf, when he 
landed in Norway, from England, was 





NUMISMATIG® NOs 








Cree OR W AY 









































accompanied by priests and all other 
necessaries of Christian worship. As it 
was from the trained ranks of the priest- 
hood that the best die-sinkers were 
recruited, there is little doubt that the 
Godwine of the coins was one of the 
clerical followers in Olaf’s service, and 
that he did all the work of designing 
and striking the coins. Judged by extant 
illustrations of the one formerly in evi- 
dence, the coins were superior in. work- 
manship to those of the issues of Hakon 
the Bad, and unlike them, also, the 
legends are strictly accurate indicating the 
work of a trained craftsman. 

The inscribing, on both sides of the 
coins, of the name of the country of 
origin was not, at the time, peculiar to 
Norway. In the neighbouring Kingdom 
of Denmark the same practice was 
adopted by the contemporary King Sweyn 
Forkbeard. The custom of the two coun- 
tries was, therefore, as might be expected, 
the same. 

Olaf Trygveson met his death, in the 
year 1000, in the great sea-fight at Swald, 











wee MONOGRAPHS 










































THE EARLIEST =U 


a river mouth on the Pomeranian coast, to 
the west of the island of Rtigen, where 
he was ambushed by a confederation of 
Danes, under Sweyn Forkbeard, and 
Swedes, under Olaf Skotkonung. The 
former, of course, continued his coun- 
try’s ancient feud, whilst the latter entered 
the struggle because of an insult offered 
to his mother, Sigrid the Haughty, by 
Olaf Trygveson. 

The victors had agreed to divide Nor- 
way between them. The southern shores 
of Norway, from the Naze eastwards, fell 
to Sweyn, that is to say, the part of Nor- 
way which the Danish Kings always 
claimed. The Swedish King obtained 
seven shires in the Throndelaw, whilst 
the coastlands from the Naze northwards 
were given to Eric Hakonson, with the 
title of Jarl or Earl. Eric had, on the 
conquest of his father by Olaf Trygveson 
in 995 A. D., fled to the court of Sweyn 
Forkbeard, and had been given the lat- 
ter’s protection and his daughter Gytha 
in marriage. As Sweyn’s son-in-law, 
Eric had assisted in the fight at Swald 


NUMISMATIC NOt. 











ae 
OF NORWAY 21 


against his hereditary enemy, Olaf 
Trygveson. The circumstances of this 
partial restoration to the domains of his 
father Hakon, point, however, to his com- 
plete dependence on the Danish King, 
and there is nothing in his later history 
to show that he obtained sovereign power 
in Norway. In fact, the incidents of his 
life indicate that he was throughout 
purely a vassal of Denmark. It is un- 
likely, therefore, that a separate coinage 
for Norway was struck whilst he was 
earl, although a coinage was formerly 
attributed to him, a specimen of which, 
from the collection formed by the writer, 
is illustrated as figure 3. 




















Fig. 3. Penny formerly attributed to 
Eric Hakonson of Norway. 








AND MONOGRAPHS 








22 rn EARLIES 1eaG@ Ga 


It reads as follows: 


Obv: X.HEINRICVS: CM (= Comes = 
earl) 


Rev: X.HROSA ME FEC retrograde = 
Hrosa made me. 

























Hildebrand, however, in the work be- 
fore cited, considered that this attribution 
was inaccurate, and his opinion is cer- 
tainly supported not only by the history of 
Eric’ Hakonson but also by the style of 
the coins, by the Earl’s name on the 
obverse, and the form of the lettering 
generally. In fact, it is fairly clearly 
demonstrated by Dannenberg in Die 
Deutschen Miinzen der Sdchsischen und 
Friinkischen Kaisergeit that these coins 
belong to Henry the Good, Count of 
Stade, 976-1016, a town near the estuary 
of the Elbe. 

As before mentioned, when Norway 
was partitioned in 1000, Sweyn Forkbeard 
of Denmark obtained the coastlands of 
Norway immediately to the North of his 
own lands of East and West Denmark, 
but there is no evidence that he struck 





NUMISMATIC3N Ot 




































Pepe nO RW AY 23 





coins for his Norwegian provinces. On 
the death of Sweyn, in 1014, there ensued 
a time, however, when a Danish coinage 
for Norway was not only possible, but 
probable. From the obscurities of the 
records it seems that Canute, who had 
been nominated as the successor to 
Sweyn’s pretensions in England, secured 
also some sovereignty in Southern Nor- 
way, i. e., the Danish share of that coun- 
try. When Canute was forced to fly from 
England in 1014, he retired to Denmark 
and there preferred a request to Harold, 
his brother, to share with him the Danish 
throne, carrying with it the sovereignty 
of South Norway. But although Harold 
strenuously opposed the proposition to 
share his Kingdom so far as Denmark 
was concerned, he appears to have made 
no objection to Canute ruling in South 
Norway. That Canute had authority 
there at this time is supported by a few 
coins, inscribed with his name, and, on 
the reverse, his territory of Norway. 
Although these are attributed by Hilde- 
brand in his catalogue of Anglo-Saxon 


Pelee ON OGRA PHS 














24 









THE EARLIES Pia 











of Anglo-Saxon coins, Vol. II, 1893. All 















coins in the Royal Cabinet at Stockholm 
to England, they are, by inscription and 
in the peculiar name of the moneyer, 
Scandinavian. This will be seen on com- 
parison of figure 4, from a specimen in 
my own collection, with figure 5, which 
is an undoubted penny of Olaf the Stout 
of Norway. 





Fig. 4. Penny of Canute for Norway 
formerly attributed to England. 
The inscriptions are as follows: 


Obv: ¥ CNVT REX ANGLOR > 
Rev: FASDRID MO:NOR 

If these coins are Anglo-Saxon, some 
should have been found in England. This, 


however, is not the case; nor are they rep- 
resented in the British Museum Catalogue 


NUMISMATI(C 33. 





OF NORWAY 25 


the known specimens are from Scandi- 
navian hoards. Secondly, the work and 
inscriptions are so like the undoubted 
Norwegian coin represented by figure 5 
that no numismatist will hesitate to 
ascribe the two emissions to the same 
hand. Finally, Asthrith is a name known 
only on these two issues of coins, the one 
of Canute and the other of Olaf. It is 
an old Norse name made up of the well 
known masculine prototheme As—, and 
the equally common feminine deutero- 
theme—thrith. The two, in conjunction, 
like many analogous cases, e. g.. Ead— 
and —mund, equals Eadmund, were given 
to men. 

Following the custom of the previous 
coins of Norway (figure 2), and the 
earliest coins of Denmark, and having 
regard to the identical reverse of the 
penny of Olaf the Stout (figure 5), the 
abbreviation, NOR, on the reverse of 
these pennies of Canute, figure 4, stands, 
not for Norwich in England, as Hilde- 
brand thought, but for Normanorum; and 
Asthrith was, therefore, a moneyer of 


NUE MONOGRAPHS 






































26 fone EARL] 2S ees 





Norway. Further, it was a frequent prac- 
tice for Canute when he became King of 
Denmark, to place on his Danish coins 
the name of the most important part of 
his dominions, viz., England (Anglorum), 
and his pretensions to that title at the time 
of issue of the Norwegian coins under 
notice would cause him to be all the more 
likely to have authorized its use on any 
money he may have struck for Norway. 
An analogous illustration is to be noticed 
in Canute’s use of his Anglian title on his 
Danish coins, issued when he succeeded 
his brother to that Kingdom. An ex- 
ample is given‘as No, 724.9) Plates: 
in Hauberg’s Myntforhold og Udmynt- 
ninger «+ Danmark wdtil 1146. The 
inscriptions are there shown as follows: 


Obv: CNVT REX ANG = Canute, King 
of England. 


Rev: OSGVT MN ON DAN = Osgut, 


the moneyer of Denmark. 


The evidence of this Danish money 
with the Anglian title on the obverse, thus 
supports the present attribution of the 


NUMISMATIC] Nip 





PreN.ORW AY 





Norwegian coins of Canute with similar 
characteristics, now under notice. Con- 
cerning this point, it should be mentioned 
that some coins of Magnus the Good, 
struck for use in Denmark, have on the 
reverse the Norwegian title. (See Num- 
ber 28, Plate I, in Schive, and Number 
38, Plate LIL in Hauberg, in the work pre- 
viously quoted.) 

With the additional evidence now 
brought forward, there is no good rea- 
son for sharing Schive’s doubt of the 
place where the coins of Olaf the Stout 
(figure 5), were struck, viz., their natural 
place, in Norway, and not the unlikely 
town of Norwich in England. Although 
I can trace no elaboration of his views, 
Mr. W. Carew Hazlitt, in his “Coinage 
of the European Continent”, also gives 
coins of Canute reading Cnut Rex Anglor 
to Norway. 

The probable explanation is that, at the 
time of Canute’s succession to the English 
throne, on the death of Sweyn, a small 
issue of coins of similar type to the Nor- 
wegian pieces under notice was made, and 


AND MONOGRAPHS 











28 THE EARDLI ESI 39C 





when Canute was forced to fly from Eng- 
land the die-sinker responsible for the 
issue fled with his master and engraved 
similar coins in Norway both for Canute 
and, later, for Olaf the Stout. 

But Canute’s coinage for Norway was 
undoubtedly shortlived. As _ previously 
mentioned, Olaf the Stout succeeded in 
his attempt on the Norwegian patrimony 
of his forefathers and became King of 
Norway in 1016, and he not only con- 
quered the North but also the South of 
Norway. The decisive battle of the 
Nesses, March 25th, 1016, in which Olaf 
defeated the last of the forces adhering 
to the cause of Eric Hakonson, was 
fought off the coast of South Norway 
which had formerly been the Danish 
share of Norwegian territory. In this 
important district Canute’s die-sinker and 
moneyer, Asthrith, probably worked; 
and after the battle referred to above he 
must have entered the service of Olaf, to 
whom the advantages of a coinage, not 
only for commerce but as an expression 
of sovereign authority, were well known. 


NUMISMATIC NO Fie 








eNO RW A Y 








This change of service is not surprising, 
for skilled workmen of this sort were 
scarce in the North. The resultant coin- 
age is illustrated by figure 5, from a cast 
kindly provided by the Keeper of Coins in 
the Swedish Royal Cabinet, Stockholm. 





Fig. 5. Penny of Olaf the Stout of 
Norway. 
The inscriptions are as follows: 


Obv: VNLAF PFEX ANOR 
Rev; 2A 'SDRI'D “MO NOR 


The coins are, as previously mentioned, 
of the same design and reverse inscrip- 
tion as the Norwegian coins of Canute, 
figure 4, and no doubt their issue followed 
the latter as quickly as it was possible 
to make new dies. Had a long interval 
elapsed, the two emissions would not have 
had such strikingly similar features. 


29 





ZN Dae MONOGRAPHS 















































30 THE. EARLIEST 3G. 





The title given on the obverse of the 
coins of Olaf is peculiar. As the en- 
graver, judged by the coins of Canute of 
similar type, was quite capable of mak- 
ing a die correct as to the title of the 
king, it is remarkable to find what, at 
first sight, appears to be a corruption in 
this particular on the coins struck for 
Olaf the Stout, and I venture to suggest 
that the variation was, after all, inten- 
tional and not the result of carelessness. 
The two native princes of Norway prior 
to Olaf, viz., Eric Hakonson and Hakon 
Ericson, held only to title of Jarl. The 
die-sinker of Olaf’s coins might, there- 
fore, reasonably have been a little in doubt 
as to the correct title of Olaf, especially 
in the early years. He, therefore, punched 
in the dies letters combining the two, I 
standing for Jarl as in the case of 
Hakon the Bad, figure 2, and EX for 
REX. That it was the intention to sepa- 
rate the two is evident, from the + between 
I and EX. A similar instance of the 
dual title of Earl and King is in evidence 
on the Scandinavian coinage of Sihtric 


NUMISMATIC 3G 












OF NORWAY 






































of Northumbria, issued over a century 
before. The combination of A and NOR 
in the territorial title is suggestive also 
of a doubt as to the extent of Olaf’s 
dominions. 

Olaf is worthy of particular mention, 
not only in connection with these coins 
of similar character to those of Canute, 
but also for his close connection with 
England prior to his conquest of Nor- 
way. He appears to have entered the 
English service in 1012, and, with another 
famous viking, Thurkil the Tall, was 
largely instrumental in repelling the Dan- 
ish attack on London under Sweyn Fork- 
beard in 1013. When the Anglo-Saxons 
finally submitted to Sweyn later in the 
same year, Olaf entered the service of 
Richard, Duke of Normandy, to whom he 
was of material assistance. Whilst in 
Normandy he met the fugitive King 
fEthelred II of England and accompanied 
him to England on his return there in 
1014, following the sudden death of the 
Danish King Sweyn. There is no doubt 
that he contributed largely to the recon- 





Pore TLONOGRAPHS 








31 




















2 | THE EARUIES Taeeoue 





























quest by A¢thelred of his kingdom, fol- 
lowed by the withdrawal to Denmark of 
Canute, Sweyn’s son and successor. In 
the following year, to15, Olaf made his 
descent on Norway, doubtless long pro- 
jected, at the time when Jarl Eric 
Hakonson, as the vassal of Denmark, left 
his earldom to aid Canute in the recon- 
quest of England. As previously men- 
tioned Olaf was successful in his enter- 
prise and became King of the whole of 
Norway in 1016. 

The weight of Olaf’s coins of the issue 
shown in figure 5 is about 18 or 19 grains 
troy, as in the case of the similar pieces 
of Canute, and they were probably struck 
in South Norway for trading purposes 
in the adjoining territory of Denmark, 
South Norway was, of course, the land 
formerly governed by the Danes, whose 
early money for their own country ap- 
pears to have been much lighter than the 
coins of Olaf Skotkonung of Sweden and 
Hakon the Bad of Norway. The pennies 
of these two latter princes are nearly 
double the weight of those of the South- 





NUMISMATIG Gia 








OF NORWAY 


ern Kingdom of Denmark, generally 


scaling to 32 or 33 grains troy. 

A coin of Olaf the Stout of this weight, 
and therefore probably minted in North 
Norway for trade with Sweden, is de- 
scribed hereunder for the first time. It is 
illustrated as figure 6 and is in the pos- 
session of the writer. 


Fig. 6. Penny of Olaf the Stout of 
Norway. 
The legends read as follows: 
Obv: OLAF (retrograde) RE DE....TI-# 
(== k Y NTL — Throndelaw) 


Rev: DROPA ON ¥F N...D (N...D retro- 
grade) F = Drowa of Nidaros fecit. 


The name Drowa, of which the W is, 
as was usual at this time, given as the 
runic P, is shown as a moneyer of the 


wie aMONOGRAPHS 





33 





34 


THE EAR LUESo Sa eae es 


period in Searle’s Onomasticon Anglo- 
Saronicum. The use of the D for D 
(the runic th) was common in the Anglo- 
Saxon coins of the same era. 

The necessity for placing, on the coin, 
the name of the local district and of the 
mint name, is evident from our previous 
consideration of the coinage of Olaf for 
South Norway, and, as the two issues of 
coins are of the same type, they were 
probably struck at approximately the same 
time, the one for South Norway and the 
other for North Norway. I consider that 
both were issued early in the reign of 
Olaf. This is evident not only from the 
almost exact similarity of figure 5 with 
figure 4, but because figure 6 is of the 
heavy weight of the early Swedish money. 
This was reduced by Anund Jacob, who 
succeeded his father Olaf Skotkonung, 
on the Swedish throne, in 1022; and it is 
probable that money for North Norway 
would, for economic reasons, have fol- 
lowed suit. 

Five other coins are attributed by 
Schive to Olaf the Stout, but of two only 





NUMISMATIC =NOA 








Cree O RW AY 





is there sufficient evidence of a clear at- 
tribution to Norway, and of one of these 
there is grave doubt whether it was 
issued as a coin at all. As regards the 
three others, their confused and uncertain 
inscriptions, and the character of their 
workmanship as a whole, render their 
attribution to Norway more than doubt- 
ful. Until coins with the same art feel- 
ing, but with intelligible legends are dis- 
covered for comparison, I consider they 
should not be attributed specially to Nor- 
way. 

An illustration of the first of the two 
pieces of which there is little doubt of 
the attribution to Norway, is given as 
figure 7, from a cast kindly furnished 








bien tenny Or Olaf the Stout of 
Norway. 


AND "MONOGRAPHS 











36 THE EARLIEST Ga 


by the Keeper of the Royal Cabinet of 
Coins in Stockholm. 


The legends read as follows: 


Obv: FONLAF RF NORMANORV? = 
Olaf King of Norway 


Rev: * DOMINADS....CF.... = Domina- 
dus me fecit. 


While the inscription on the obverse 
reads with absolute clarity, the lettering 
on the end of the reverse legend is un- 
fortunately obscure; but having regard to 
the undoubted use of the expression me 
fecit on the coins of Olaf’s son, not to 
mention its probable use on the coins of 
Olaf previously considered (figure 6), I 
think that the obscure part of the letter- 
ing on the coin under notice (figure 7), 
indicates the same words. The object in 
front of the King’s bust is undoubtedly 
intended to represent a sceptre. 

The weight of the coin is about 47 
grains troy, but it will be observed that 
the piece was circulated from the mint in 
an untrimmed condition. Allowing for 
the large margins which should have 





NUMISMA TUG] N@ i 





OF NORWAY 37 








been sheared off, the weight of this piece 
would probably have been worked down 
to the standard of that of the penny of 
Olaf the Stout previously considered, 
viz., about 32 grains troy. (See figure 6.) 

The designs, although having many 
points in common with the preceding is- 
sue, differ from it in some details. On 
the reverse, the three crescents at the 
points of the double cross are omitted, and 
on the obverse the King’s headdress is 
reminiscent of the Anglo-Saxon pointed- 
helmet type of Canute the Great on which 
appeared a sceptre also. 

The last piece which comes under the 
present review is illustrated by figure 8, 
from a cast of the coin also in the Royal 
Cabinet at Stockholm. 

















Fig. 8. Commemorative issue of Olaf 
the Stout of Norway. 


Pon Gee srONOGRAPHS 















38 THE EARUVES ie 


The inscriptions are as follows: 


Obv: FANGNVS DEI ANO 
Rev: FBEORN ON (retrograde). 








The peculiar designs of the Lamb of 
God on the obverse and of the Dove of 
Peace on the reverse (the nimbus shows 
that it is not the pagan Danish raven), 
and the unusual inscriptions of this piece 
stamp it as altogether peculiar, and, in my 
view, it was not struck primarily as money 
but as a commemorative issue. Its period 
would be fairly early in the reign of Olaf 
the Saint, for the prototype is to be found 
in a commemorative issue of similar de- 
sign made by A¢thelred IT in Anglo-Saxon 
Britain, about 1014. That it was not 
ordinary currency is certain from the 
absence of the King’s bust on the obverse, 
a universal feature on the coins of Nor- 
way of the time, as of those of Britain. 
And on this Norwegian issue is the fur- 
ther and remarkable feature of the omis- 
sion of the King’s name. 

From the account before given of his 
activities in Britain, it will be seen that 


NUMISMA PTC Wea 





























OW O.R WAY 


2 





Olaf was, prior to becoming King of Nor- 
way, one of the staunchest allies of 
fEthelred II against the Danes, and he 
contributed largely towards A*thelred’s 
restoration to his throne. He would 
undoubtedly be aware of the Agnus Det 
pieces of Anglo-Saxon Britain, com- 
memorative of God’s Providence in re- 
storing A‘thelred II again to the English 
throne, in which Olaf took a leading part, 
and the probabilities are strong that some 
of the pieces which, no doubt, also partly 
served as currency, were in Olaf’s treas- 
ure chest when he crossed to Norway 
in 1015. Prior to this enterprise he had 
become a Christian, having been baptized 
by Archbishop Robert in Rouen Cathe- 
dral in 1013-1014, whilst in the service 
of the Duke of Normandy, and I sug- 
gest that, as in the case of the some- 
what similar pieces of A‘thelred II, a 
feasible explanation of these interesting 
memorials, of which figure 8 is an ex- 
ample, is that they were commemorative 
of Olaf’s restoration to the throne of his 
forefathers, and the defeat, by God’s 





AND MONOGRAPHS 

















4o | THE FARLIES Teco 


ened 





Providence, of his enemies.  Alterna- 
tively, they might have been struck to 
commemorate the proselytizing of Nor- 
way, for which work Olaf is today 
mainly celebrated. An explanation such 
as one of these is necessary to account for 
the unusual characteristics of the pieces 
under notice. 

The work was, there is little doubt, car- 
ried out by one of the clerical assistants 
in the service of Olaf, amongst whom, 
according to Adam of Bremen, were men 
who were famous for learning and vir- 
tue. 

It is a matter of common historical 
knowledge that Olaf the Stout was forced 
to flee from his country in 1028, through 
the pressure of Danish intrigue, and his 
return in 1030 culminated in his death 
at the battle of Sticklestead, fought in the 
same year. It was after this event that 
Olaf was designated as the Saint, the 
appellation by which he is now chiefly 
known. 

For some years subsequent to the death 
of Olaf the Saint, Norway came entirely 











NUMISMATPCEN Git 


Y-RIUA/D 





2 OF NORWAY 


AI 








under the dominance of Denmark; and 
when Magnus the Good, Olaf’s son, at 
last came into his own, in 1035, he ap- 
pears to have had no leisure for seeing 
to the special issue of coins for Norway. 
In fact, he was continually at war with 
Harthacnut of Denmark. It was only on 
his accession to the Danish throne, on the 
death of Harthacnut, in 1042, that a coin- 
age was issued in his name and then only 
for Denmark, although on a few rare 
specimens of these Danish coins there 
appears the Norwegian title instead of 
the usual Danish one, in the same way 
as the Anglian title sometimes appears on 
Canute’s coins for Denmark and Norway. 

The next coinage for Norway was that 
struck by Harold Sigurdson, but it fol- 
lows native instead of Anglo-Saxon 
models, and it thus commences a fresh 


period of Norwegian monetary history| 


which is beyond the scope of the present 
treatise. 


Peet ONOGRAPHS 

















NuMiIsMATIC NoTES AND MONOGRAPHS 





t. Sydney P. Noe. Coin Hoards. 1921. 47 
pages. 6 plates. soc. 

4. Howland Wood. The Mexican Revolu- 
tionary Coinage 1913-1916, 1921. 44 
pages. 26 plates. $2.00. 

6. Agnes Baldwin. Five Roman Gold Me- 
dallions, 1921. 103 pages. 8 plates, 
$1.50. 

7, Sydney P. Noe. Medallic Work of A. A. 
Weinman. 1921. 31 pages. 17 plates. 
$1.00. 

8. Gilbert S. Perez. The Mint of the Philip- 
pine Islands. 1921. 8 pages. 4 plates. 
50¢c. 

9. David Eugene Smith, LL.D. Computing 
Jetons. 1921. 70 pages. 25 plates. 
$1.50. 

to. Edward T. Newell. The First Seleucid 

Coinage of Tyre. 1921. 40 pages. 8 

Nniate D 










French Orders 
110 pages. 35 


B 


Dollars of 1858. 
tes. 50¢. 

Mohammedan Coin- 
1922. 56 pages. 


nbelos I of Chara- 
3 plates. $1.00. 
Dikistes (A Contri- 
fumismatics). 1922. 
3. $3.50. 





NumiIsMATIc Notes AND MONOGRAPHS 


16. 


17. 


18, 


19. 


20. 


2!I. 


22. 


23, 


24. 


25. 
26. 


27. 


28. 


(Continued) 

Howland Wood. Commemorative Coinage 
of United States. 1922. 63 pages. 7 
plates. $1.50. 

Agnes Baldwin. Six Roman Bronze Me- 
dallions. 1923. 39 pages. 6 plates. 


1.50. 

Howland Wood. Tegucigalpa Coinage of 
1823. 1923. 16 pages. 2 plates. 5oc. 

Edward T. Newell. Alexander Hoards— 
II. Demanhur Hoard. 1923. 162 
pages. 8 plates. $2.50. 

Harrold E. Gillingham. Italian Orders of 
Chivalry and Medals of Honor. 1923. 
146 pages. 34 plates. $2.00. 

Edward T. Newell. Alexander Hoards— 
III. Andritsaena. 1924. 39 pages. 6 
plates. $1.00. a 

C. T. Seltman. A Hoard from Side. 1924. 
20 pages. 3 plates. $1.00. 

R. B. Seager. A Cretan Coin Hoard. 1924. 
55 pages. 12 plates. $2.00. 

Samuel R. Milbank. The Coinage of 
Aegina. 1925. 66 pages. 5 _ plates. 
$2.00. 


Sydney P. Noe. A Bibliography of Greek 
Coin Hoards. 1925. 275 pages. $2.50. — 


Edward T. Newell. Mithradates of Par- 
thia and MHyspaosines of Characene. 
1925. 18 pages. 2 plates. 5oc. 

Sydney P. Noe. The Mende (Kaliandra) 
Hoard. 1926. 73 pages. 10 plates. 
$2.00. 

Agnes Baldwin. Four Medallions from the 


$1.50. 


Arras Hoard. 1926. 36 pages. 4 plates 


